-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Arsenal fans were hoping for a fairytale win against old rivals Chelsea to mark Arsene Wenger 's 1,000 th game in charge .

Instead , they endured a nightmare defeat as Jose Mourinho 's side romped to a 6-0 win in the English Premier League at Stamford Bridge on Saturday .

Gunners ' fans have already seen their team taken apart by top-four opposition this season with Liverpool winning 5-1 at Anfield last month and Manchester City dominant in a 6-3 goal-fest at the Etihad Stadium last December .

But the loss to local London rivals Chelsea will be the most difficult to stomach with the margin of defeat equaling Wenger 's worst loss -- 8-2 by Manchester United in 2011 -- at the club .

Mourinho 's side were two goals up after seven minutes as first Samuel Eto'o then Andre Schurrle scored .

A 10-minute period of respite ensued before the home side was awarded a penalty for hand ball , with referee Andre Marriner mistakenly showing a red card to Arsenal defender Kieran Gibbs instead of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who had tipped Eden Hazard 's shot around the post . Marriner later apologized for the error .

Amid the confusion , penalty-taker Hazard kept a clear head to fire Chelsea into a 3-0 lead with just 17 minutes played .

Oscar then added a fourth three minutes before the break and popped up again for his second of the day in the 66th minute . Mohamed Salah made it six with his first Chelsea goal in the 71st minute .

The win maintains the Blues ' four-point lead at the top of the table while Arsenal slip to fourth with 62 points -- seven points adrift of Chelsea .

After the match , Wenger shouldered the blame for the heavy defeat and conceded it had been one of the worst days of his career .

`` This defeat is my fault . I take full responsibility for it , '' Wenger said .

`` I do n't think there 's too much need to talk about the mistakes we made . We got a good hiding today . It 's how we respond now on Tuesday night -LRB- against Swansea City -RRB- and the best way is not to explain too much the mistakes .

`` Yes , of course it 's one of the worst days . It 's over after 20 minutes and it 's a long game after that .

`` You do n't prepare all week to experience that kind of experience . It 's a huge disappointment today , but we want to win the next game now . ''

After crashing to defeat at Aston Villa last weekend , Mourinho 's side are back on championship-winning form . But the Portuguese continued his policy of playing down his team 's title chances .

`` We go match after match , '' Mourinho said .

`` We play Crystal Palace next and after that we go to Paris -LRB- for the first leg Champions League quarterfinal tie against Paris St Germain -RRB- .

`` It 's a different situation to Arsenal . It 's a different situation to Liverpool , and Manchester City are also not in that situation . We are happy to be in that situation . ''

Manchester City kept in touch with Chelsea as they battered relegation-threatened Fulham 5-0 at the Etihad .

Yaya Toure scored a hat-trick -LRB- two goals coming from the penalty spot -RRB- with Fernandinho and Martin Demichelis adding two late on to keep Manuel Pellegrini 's side third on 63 points , but with three games in hand .

Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick as Liverpool 's winning run continued with a 6-3 victory at Cardiff City .

The home side led twice -- goals from Jordan Mutch in the ninth minute and Frazier Campbell in the 25th minute -- but Brendan Rodgers ' side was once again irresistible in attack .

After scoring in the 16th and 60th minute , Suarez scored his third of the match and his 28th league goal in injury time , adding to two from Martin Skrtel and one from strike partner Daniel Sturridge .

The win keeps Liverpool second with 65 points while Cardiff remain second from bottom with 25 from 31 games .

Manchester United backed up a promising Champions League win in midweek with a 2-0 win at West Ham United .

Wayne Rooney was the star of the show with two first-half goals . The first , a looping 45-yard shot caught Spanish goalkeeper Adrian napping while his second was a more straightforward tap in .

David Moyes ' team now have 51 points from 30 matches and will enter next Tuesday 's Manchester derby with renewed optimism .

Elsewhere , Everton beat Swansea City 3-2 to rise to fifth while Newcastle are up to eighth after a 1-0 win against Crystal Palace .

Norwich City eased relegation worries with a 2-0 win over fellow strugglers Sunderland -- Chris Hughton 's side are up to 13th with 31 points . Gus Poyet 's Sunderland remain in the bottom three .

Hull City further improved their survival hopes with a 2-0 win over West Bromwich Albion .

Read more : Champions League quarterfinal draw

Read more : Man Utd put a smile on Moyes ' face

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Arsene Wenger 's 1,000 th game in charge of Arsenal ends in humiliating defeat

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Chelsea score six to remain four points clear at top of table

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Manchester City and Liverpool also thrash opponents to keep pace with leaders